Attachment for jacks



Aug. 14, 1934. w B. PRlCE I 1,969,943

ATTACHMENT FOR JACKS Original Filed Nov. 28, 1951 NB.Prive m g' 22 Z5 Patented Aug. 14, 1934 uNrrs srrs ATTACHMENT FOR JACKS William B. Price,

Refiled for abandoned 577,839, November 28,

Grandfield, Okla.

application Serial No. 1931. This application December 12, 1933, Serial No. 702,068

15 Claims.

This invention relates to automobile jacks, and more particularly to an attachment for a conventional jack by means of which the placement of the jack beneath the vehicle is facilitated.

An object of this invention is to provide an attachment which can be mounted on any conventional jack and which is constructed to engage a portion of the vehicle or article which it is desired to raise by the jack, the portion of the vehicle or article so engaged acting as a guide for the jack att chment in the movement of the jack to operative position.

Anoth r object of this invention is to provide an attachment of this kind with means for facilitating the movement along the article engaged thereby, particularly where the article has clips or projections which would ordinarily interfere with the movement of the device along the article.

A further object of this invention is to provide an attachment for a jack which is constructed to engage the spring of the vehicle so as to position the jack beneath the spring adjacent the center thereof and to hold jack in its selected position during the initial expansion or turning of the jack so as to prevent the head of the jack from slipping oil of the spring.

The above and various other objects and advantages of this invention will in part be'described in and in part be understood from the following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment, the being illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Figure 1 is a detail side elevation of an attachment constructed according to the preferred embodiment of this invention, showing the manner of using the device in combination with a jack construction;

Figure 2 is a detail front eleva i ion or" the device;

Figure 3 is a detail side elevation of the device;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan vi w of the device.

Referring to the drawing wherein like numerals of reference'designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the numeral 10 designates generally the shank of a jack of con-' ventional construction having a head 11 swivelly mounted thereon.

At the present time, in the positioning of jacks beneath a vehicle and particularly beneath the springs of a vehicle, in order to raise the wheel up, it frequently happens that the head 11 of the jack slips to one side and the rotation or recipro cation of the operating member for the jack acts to displace the head 11 beneath. the spring or vehicle.

In order to provide a positive means for maintaining the head 11 of the jack beneath the spring and to eliminate the necessity of kneeling down and forcing the jack beneath the vehicle, I have provided an attachment which is adapted to enccgage about the leaves of the vehicle spring and is movable therealong to the desired position, so that the jack will be disposed beneath the vehicle at the desired point to raise the wheel 01f of the ground. This attachment comprises a pair of plates, generally designated as 12 and 14 each having laterally ofiset upper end portions 15 and 16. The plate 14 has secured to the lower end thereof a pair of L-shaped guide members 17, which have the short leg thereof bolted or riveted, as at 13, to the lower end of the plate 14 and disposed in parallel relation one to another. The free ends of the guide bars 1'? extend through loops 18 provided in a plate 19 formed with the plate 12 and positioned at substantially right angles thereto, this plate 19 extending in a direction toward the plate 14.

The guide bars 17 are provided with a plurality of longitudinally spaced apertures 20 therethrough, and in like manner, the guide loops so are provided with apertures 21 for receiving securing pins 22, so that the plate 12 and the plate 19 can be adjusted toward or away from the plate 14 on the guide members 1'7. The central or inner edge portion of the horizontally disposed plate 19 is provided with a concave portion 23, the purpose for which will be hereinafter described.

A slide member, generally designated as 24, which comprises a body plate 25 having loop members 26 at each end thereof, slidably engages 9.0 the guide members 17 and is provided with a concave inner edge portion 2'? confronting the concave portion 23 of the opposing plate 19. The curvature of these portions 23 and 27 is such as to substantially conform to the curvature of the periphery of the stem 10 of the jack beneath the head 11. A slide operating member 28 is pivotally secured at one end to one of the guide members 1'7, and is provided at the inner edge thereof with a rack or toothed portion 29 for engagement with an upstanding pin 30 mounted on the slide 24. In this manner, the slide 24 can be moved toward the fixed plate 19, so as to loosely engage about the stem 10 beneath the head 11 and thereby rotatably secure the stem 10 on this attachment.

The plate 14 has secured to the upper portion thereof, a shaft 31 having a depending leg or end portion 32, which is secured to the offset portion 16 of the plate 14 by means of bolts 33 which extend through selected apertures 34 in the onset 110 to engage the shaft 31 in the slot 45.

plate portion 16. In this manner, the shaft 31, which extends in a direction parallel to the guide members 1'7, may be positioned in desired distance away from the guide members 17 so that when the device engages about a spring, the shaft 31 will be a suilicient distance away from the guides 17 to permit the movement of the plate members 12 and 14 to the central portion of the spring.

A pair of rollers 35 and 36 are rotatably mounted on the shaft 31 intermediate the ends thereof, being held against longitudinal movement by means of collars 37 and 38. These rollers 35 and 36 are provided so as to facilitate the movement of the device while positioned about the spring, the rollers 35 and 36 engaging the upper surface of the top leaf of the vehicle spring. In order to provide means whereby the device may be readily moved longitudinally of the spring, where the spring has projections in the form of clips or the like, I have provided a lifting member, generally designated as 39, which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 31 intermediate the two rollers 35 and 36.

This lifting member 39 is constructed in substantially star-shaped form and in the present instance is disclosed as having four corners with the material intermediate each corner cut away, as at 40. Preferably, the lifting member 39 is of a width from point to point substantially equal to the diameter of the rollers 35 and 36, so that the rollers 35 and 36 have free movement on the top of the spring, but when a projection in the form of a clip interferes with the rotation of these rollers 35 and 36, the points 41 of the lifting member 39 will strike the projection and further inward movement of the device will cause the engaged point 41. to remain stationary while the lifting member 39 is turned with the engaged point as a fulcrum, thereby raising the rollers 35 and 36 over this projection.

The end of the shaft 31 opposite the secured end 32 is free and a latch or securing member 42 which is pivotally carried by a pivot 43 extending through a selected aperture 44 in the offset plate portion 15 engages this free end of the shaft 31, the latch 42 having a slot or opening 45 to receive the free end of the shaft 31.

In the operation of this device, the movable clamping member or slide 24 may be moved toward the plate 14 by swinging the latch member 28 outwardly and the head 11 of the jack extended through the opening formed by the opposing plates 19 and 25, whereupon the latch member 28 may be swung inwardly so as to move the movable clamping member 24 inwardly beneath the head 11. The head 11 will then be swivelly secured between the clamping portions 19 and 24, and the latch 42 may be swung out of engagement with the shaft 31, so as to permit the small or outer end portion of the vehicle spring to he slipped between the shaft 31 and the upper end of the plate 15. The latch member 42 may then be swung upwardly so as In this position, the entire jack structure will be held out of engagement with the ground with the outer end of the vehicle spring as a support. The jack can then be rolled inwardly, the rollers 35 and 36 ro ling on top of the upper leaf of the spring, and the lifting member 39 will raise the rollers 35 and 36 in the event a clip or the like is placed about the leaves of the spring intermediate the ends thereof. When the jack is in the desired position beneath the vehicle Spring, the operating means for the jack may be operated so as to lower the base of the jack for engagement with the ground or floor. The head 11 of the jack will engage the lower surface of the spring so that no matter how much pressure is applied by the jack, the attachment hereinbefore described will not become bent or affected thereby.

It is, .of course, understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:-

1. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure, seeming means carried by the frame and loosely engaging beneath the head of a jack, means for detachably mounting the frame for free movement longitudinally of a vehicle spring, and means for raising the frame stlucture over a projection on the spring coactive with the movement of the frame structure longitudinally of the spring.

2. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure, clamping means for loosely clamping a jack to said frame structure whereby to dispose the frame upwardly from the jack and to permit the jack to have movement relative to the frame, means for detachably mounting the frame about a vehicle spring for free movement longitudinally of the spring, and means for raising the frame structure over a projection on the spring coactive with the movement of the frame structure longitudinally of the spring.

3. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure, means for detachably and swivelly securing the head portion of a jack within the frame, releasable means for releasably mounting the frame on a vehicle spring, and means for raising the frame structure over a projection on the spring coactive with the movement of the frame structure longitudinally of the spring.

4. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure, jack clamping means carried by the structure for mounting the head of the jack for free movement longitudinally of the frame, a member carried by the frame and adapted to engage over the top of a vehicle spring whereby to dependingly support the jack from the spring, means carried by the frame and engaging the member for detachably securing the frame about the spring, and means for raising the frame structure over a projection on the spring coactive with the movement of the frame structure longitudinally of the spring.

5. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure including side plates, a pair of parallel bars connecting an end portion of each of the side plates whereby to mount the plates in parallel relation to each other, jack clamping means mounted on said bars, means carried by the opposite end portions of said side plates for detachably mounting the frame about a vehicle spring, and means for raising the frame structure over a projection on the spring coactive with the movement of the frame structure longitudinally of the spring.

6. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure including side plates positioned in parallel relation to each other, a pair of guide bars secured to one of said plates and extending in the direction of the other plate, means carried by the other plate for adjustably securing said other plate in desired spaced relation to the first plate, jack clamping means mounted on the bars, means engaging the opposite end of each of said plates for detachably mounting the plates on a vehicle spring, and means for raising the frame structure over a projection on the spring coactive with the movement of the frame structure longitudinally of the spring.

'7. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure, said frame comprising side members positioned in parallel relation to each other, a pair of guide bars secured to one end of one of said plates and extending in the direction of the other of said plates, means for mounting the other of said plates in adjusted position longitudinally on said guide bars, a movable clamping member mounted on said guide bars, releasable locking means for locking said movable clamping member in adjusted position on said guide bars, and means engaging the opposite end portions of each of said side members for detachably securing said members on a vehicle spring.

8. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure, said structure including a pair of side members disposed in substantially parallel relation one to another, jack clamping means carried by one end portion of said side members, a shaft mounted on one of said side members on the end oppositely from said clamping means, a latch member carried by the other of said side members and releasably engaging said shaft whereby to secure the side members on a vehicle spring, and rollers mounted on said shaft and engaging the top of the spring whereby to facilitate movement of the frame longitudinally of the spring.

9. An attachment for the purpose set forth comprising a frame structure including a pair of side members positioned in substantially parallel relation to each other, jack clamping means carried by an end portion of each of said side members for releasably securing the head of the jack between the side members, a shaft secured to one of said members and extending in the direction of the other of said members at the end oppositely from said clamping means, a latch member carried by the other of said side members and releasably engaging said shaft whereby to secure the side members about a spring and to dispose the jack beneath the spring, rollers mounted on said shaft, and a lifting member mounted on said shaft whereby to raise the frame over a projection on the upper surface of the spring.

10. In an attachment as set forth including a frame structure, means for facilitating the movement of the frame on the upper surface of a vehicle spring, and a lifting member rotatably carried by the frame and adapted to lift the frame over a projection in a vertical direction coactive with the horizontal movement of the frame on a spring.

11. In an attachment as set forth including a frame and means for detachably securing a jack in the frame, rollers carried by the frame and engaging the upper surface of a spring to facilitate horizontal movement of the frame on the spring, and a frame lifting member rotatably carried by the frame and adapted to lift the frame in a vertical direction over a projection upon longitudinal movement of the frame on a spring, said lifting member comprising a plate member having projecting means extending beyond the periphery of said rollers and disposed closely adjacent the upper surface of the spring whereby to contact with a transversely disposed projection mounted on the spring.

12. In a jack construction including a standard, a lifting member and operating means for said lifting member; a supporting member swivelly engaging said member and extending upwardly therefrom, said member comprising means loosely engaging about said member, side members extending upwardly from said member engaging means, a shaft carried by one of said side members and extending in the direction of the other side member, rollers rotatably mounted on said shaft and means between the rollers for raising the supporting member over a projection on a spring.

13. The combination with a jack structure, of a member loosely carried by the lifting portion of the jack, said member including a lower jack engaging member, side members carried by said jack engaging member, a shaft supported between said side members, rollers mounted on said shaft and means on the shaft for raising the supporting member over a projection on a spring.

14. The combination with a jack structure, of a member carried by the lifting portion of the jack, said member including a lower member engaging said lifting portion, side members carried by said lower member, a shaft supported between said side members, rollers mounted on said shaft, and means carried by said shaft for raising the rollers over a projection on top of a spring.

15. The combination with a jack structure including a standard and a lifting portion, of a shaft extending transverse to the length of said lifting portion, rollers on said shaft, and means engaging the shaft and the lifting portion of the jack to dispose the shaft in upwardly spaced relation to the top of said lifting portion, and means carried by said shaft for raising the rollers over a projection on top of a spring.

WILLIAM B. PRICE. 

